Built in 1819, the same year that Alabama became a state, the Weeden House is one of the finest examples of Federal architecture in the South. The house was home to several prominent including John McKinley, one of the three Alabama justices to have served on the US Supreme Court, before it became the birthplace and lifelong home of acclaimed poet and artist Maria Howard Weeden. Howard Weeden was born in the home in 1846, died in the home in 1905 and except for when it was requisitioned by federal officers during the civil war; she spent her entire life in the house. Credited as being one of first artists to paint African American’s true to life following the War Between the States, Howard Weeden is known for her watercolor paintings of freed slaves who resided in Huntsville during the Reconstruction Era and the poems that captured their stories.
From February 1-March 7 2019, the Weeden House will exhibit the largest combined collection of Howard Weeden’s Art ever offered to the public. The furnishings of the home and the exhibit will transport visitors to a bygone era where they will catch a glimpse of antebellum life both before and after the war. Guests will explore the very rooms where Howard Weeden created a visual and literary legacy to the African Americans who were such an integral part of her life.